<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>On Occasion, They Fight Back by TabithaHallows</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27188362">On Occasion, They Fight Back</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TabithaHallows/pseuds/TabithaHallows'>TabithaHallows</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Of Hidden Knives and Suits and Ties [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Assassination Classroom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Assassins &amp; Hitmen, Blood and Injury, M/M, Minor Injuries, Modern Assassins, One Shot, Tags Are Hard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 04:00:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,461</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27188362</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TabithaHallows/pseuds/TabithaHallows</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After over six months, Karma finally returns. He has his grin in tow and a few bruises to go with it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akabane Karma/Asano Gakushuu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Of Hidden Knives and Suits and Ties [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1981714</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>110</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>On Occasion, They Fight Back</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Six months, seven days and fourteen hours was how long it had been since Gakushuu had last seen Karma. <br/>
 <br/>
It was a Sunday. Gakushuu was in his home pouring over a report at the dining table. Since that first Wednesday when Karma's absence had stubbornly clung to his mind, the quality of his work had somewhat...decreased. He found he worked better at home for the moment. Karma rarely appeared there without warning and so he wouldn't have to think about eyes watching him and waiting. From home or not, he would do his work and do it well. That was the given in his life. </p><p>It was dark outside and Gakushuu's stomach was telling him it was time for dinner but he had set a goal he would need to reach for eating. He estimated another approximate forty-five minutes before he was finished. He could last that long easily and couldn't afford to slow down. </p><p>Well on his way to completing his work quota for the night, his attention was in-depth and laser-focused. A product of the rigours studying- training- his father had put him through as a child. Rigours and ruthless it might have been, Gakushuu's mind had seemed uniquely capable of keeping up with it. He sometime wondered if his father had only had a child because he knew it would be so intelligent. </p><p>With his focus so sharp, attention so point, he almost ignored it. That feeling. Being watched. Eyes tracing him. He couldn't even pinpoint where it started but it was certainly there. He finished the sentence he was writing and then immediately looked up. In the corner of his eye he saw a dark figure with bright red hair and blazing eyes. </p><p>Karma. Karma was back.</p><p>He stood, fully facing the man now standing in the doorway between his dining room and the lounge room. His eyes widened. </p><p>Karma's face was bruised and bloody. A split lip, a large gash on his cheekbone, a defined bump on his forehead. Gakushuu had seen sighs of a fight before left on Karma but nothing like this. The shoulder of his sweater was torn as well, the skin beneath looking no better on his face.</p><p>Despite all this, Karma was grinning like they were on a Sunday picnic.</p><p>"Did you miss me?"</p><p>"What on Earth happened to you?" Gakushuu frowned deeply.</p><p>"On occasion, they fight back." Karma shrugged. </p><p>"You look like you went ten rounds in a fight ring."</p><p>"Well, hey, he was a big freaking guy! But you know what they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall." Karma's eyes flashed sadistically. "And believe me, he fell hard."</p><p>Gakushuu rolled his eyes at Karma's dramatics and stepped away from the table. </p><p>"Don't move from that spot and don't get blood on anything or you're going right back out whatever window you crawled in." He ordered. </p><p>"You really have to work on your greetings, Gakushuu."</p><p>"Oh? And how exactly should I greet the bleeding assassin standing in my home uninvited?" Gakushuu regretted that question the second he asked it.</p><p>"How about a kiss?" Karma pursed his lip and smooched at the air. </p><p>Gakushuu truly never regretted things without good reason. He just scowled and went into his conjoined kitchen where he kept the first aid kit.</p><p>"Awe, come on!" Karma laughed, but indeed didn't move. "Not even a little peck! A tiny little one for good luck? I am injured here, you know."</p><p>"Of that, I am well aware." Gakushuu came back in, face saying how unamused he was by Karma's jokes. He put the first aid kit on the table and pulled out a chair. "Now, sit down and shut up." <br/>
 <br/>
"Finally, some hospitality!" </p><p>"I will throw you out that window myself, Karma."</p><p>"I'd like to see you try."</p><p>"And I'd like to see you hit the pavement. Now, sit."</p><p>Karma still hadn't moved since he first appeared and that wasn't lost on Gakushuu. His eyes narrowed. Karma was tense and his breathing was shallow. It was subtle but there. </p><p>At first, Gakushuu had thought it was because his face looked like it had merged with a brick wall but thinking on it longer, Karma didn't seem the type who couldn't handle a little pain. And he definitely wasn't the type who would let any weakness be known. Something was bothering him. Something more than a busted lip and a gazed arm. </p><p>"What's wrong with you?"</p><p>"Would you like the list alphabetically or by current irrelevance?"</p><p>"Karma..." Gakushuu inched towards him.</p><p>"Gakushuu..." Karma held his ground, but his form tightened further.</p><p>"Where else are you hurt?"</p><p>"...my heart...from your horrible treatment of me."</p><p>"Don't be stupid. If you're seriously injured than say so."</p><p>"I am not." Karma did appear to be serious this time but Gakushuu wasn't about to take that on good faith.</p><p>He kept moving towards Karma, purpose in his step, brow furrowed. He was just within arms reach when Karma finally moved.</p><p>He took two quick steps back, pointed canine biting down on his lip. </p><p>"What was that?" Asked Gakushuu.</p><p>"You invading my personal space?" Karma grit his teeth.</p><p>"You don't know the meaning of the word. Where are you hurt?"</p><p>"Are you blind? Look at my face."</p><p>"You're face isn't what I'm referring too." </p><p>"My ass is fine as always."</p><p>"Not that either."</p><p>"I'm am fine, Gakushuu. If I've lived this long being a little battered isn't going to hurt me. Your concern is touching though. Gets me right in the feels."</p><p>Gakushuu took half a step back, gaze softening for a moment.</p><p>"Alright."</p><p>"Alright."</p><p>"Then sit."</p><p>"Since you asked so nicely." Karma battered his lashes </p><p>Gakushuu watched Karma begin to move, that fang biting down so hard on his lip he thought he might puncture it. He let him walk two steps. Then three and four. Then Gakushuu stepped up behind him and he froze. </p><p>"Yes?" Said Karma, shoulders rigid.</p><p>"Turn around."</p><p>"Never heard anyone complain about that side of me before."</p><p>"Just do it."</p><p>Karma hesitated so long Gakushuu thought he was going to refuse but he eventually did as he was told. He smiled in a way that might have been disarming if Gakushuu was anyone else. </p><p>"Can't go long without seeing my face, eh?"</p><p>"Closer."</p><p>"Finally going to get that kiss am I?"</p><p>Gakushuu didn't answer, he just crooked a finger to pull him in even closer. Karma crept forward, grinning like a devil.</p><p>Gakushuu lifted a hand and cupped his chin carefully, not breaking eye contact. He could see Karma's expression changing, near imperceivable in it's shift. His cockiness faded, though ever so slightly, his grin almost dropping. </p><p>This time Gakushuu moved closer, leaning in so that his nose brushed Karma's. He could smell the blood from the other man's face. </p><p>He held them there for a moment, staring into each others gazes like there was no else in the world. He could see the <br/>
He could see the ripples and lines in the iris of Karma's eye, golden, brown and shimmering yellow. He could see the speck of dried blood sitting just under his right eyebrow. He was so close. All he needed to do was lean in and...and...</p><p>Press his hand hard against Karma's upper left abdomen.</p><p>Karma let out a pained gasp and jerked away, hissing like an angry cat. Gakushuu grabbed his uninjured arm, holding him in place before he could make a run for it.</p><p>He slipped his hand into the utility belt at Karma's waist and yanked up the bottom of his sweater. The bruising was stark against his swollen skin, purple and blue blooming across his ribs in the shape of fists. </p><p>Karma jerked away again, effectively breaking from Gakushuu's grip but not getting far. He held an arm around his side protectively, shooting Gakushuu a dark glare. </p><p>"On occasion, they fight back?" Gakushuu arched a brow. </p><p>"Unsurprisingly some people don't take their murder attempts lightly." Karma growled under his now more obviously laboured breaths.</p><p>"Your ribs could be fractured or broken."</p><p>"I've had worse."</p><p>Gakushuu stepped towards him but this time Karma backed up several metres, arm will around his injury.</p><p>"What do you think I'm going to do?" Gakushuu could have laughed at Karma's near frantic scramble.</p><p>"I don't know? Poke me again? That fucking hurt, you know."</p><p>"Oh, of the love of- What are you? Ten? I won't poke you again." Gakushuu walked right past him and gestured to the still waiting chair. "Now, if you'll just stop being difficult and sit down I'll get you an ice pack to bring down the swelling." </p><p>Karma pouted, hostility quickly fading. </p><p>"You could always just kiss it better."</p><p>"Don't be disgusting. Now. Sit the hell down." </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ayyyyyyyye yes I'm back at it again with this AUUUUUUU</p><p>It honestly gives me so much joy that people are loving this as much as I am. I don't really have the patience or motivation (or actual romance writing skills) to make this until a full fled multi-chapter fix which is why it's in this one-shot series form. I do have a proper ending in mind and unless anything changes it should total around 14 one-shots in all so there is some kind of vague structure to it 😆</p><p>Anyway, hope you liked! See you all next time 🍓🍊✌</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>